Ecobank Nigeria Appoints Chairman, Directors

By Fola James

The Board of Directors of Ecobank Nigeria has announced the appointment of three non-executive directors, Mrs. Bola Adesola, Mrs. Titilayo Olujobi and Mrs. Bimbola Wright.

The Pan-African bank said in a statement on Wednesday that the appointees have distinguished themselves in their various careers bringing with them a wealth of experience in the financial services industry. Their professionalism and integrity, the bank said has earned them international repute.

According to the statement “Mrs. Adesola who has also been appointed as the Chairman of the Board, following the end of tenure of Mr. John Aboh, is a highly respected professional with over thirty-three (33) years of experience in the banking sector. She has commendable leadership qualities and successfully driven expansion initiatives in several banks.

“Mrs Adesola retired from Standard Chartered Bank as the Senior Vice- Chairman, Africa. Prior to this role, she was the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer for Standard Chartered Nigeria and West Africa for eight years with oversight over the bank’s West African subsidiaries, including Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Cameroun. Mrs. Adesola was also the Chairperson of the Board of Standard Chartered Bank Mauritius and a Director at Standard Chartered, Ghana.

“She also served as an Executive Director, Corporate Banking and Executive Director Lagos Directorate at First Bank of Nigeria Plc; Managing Director, Kakawa Discount House, Nigeria. An alumnus of Harvard Business School and Lagos Business School, she also holds a Law degree from the University of Buckingham, UK and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, U.K and Nigeria amongst others, “the bank said.

Speaking on her appointment the new Ecobank Nigeria Chairman said “I am honoured to be appointed as Chairman of the Board of Ecobank Nigeria. I am familiar with the brand and the proud history that is built on strong foundationacross the African continent and indeed globally.

“I look forward to working with the other members of the Board and Executive team as we continue our journey to be top in the Nigerian market, by setting the standards in financial services for our customers. I would also like to express my thanks to my predecessor, Mr. John Aboh, a consummate and respected banker for a very successful tenure and wish him all the best for the future.”

Patrick Akinwuntan, Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria in his comment said: “The entire staff and Management of Ecobank Nigeria warmly welcome Mrs. Bola Adesola and the other new directors to the Board. We will give them our full support in ensuring the actualization of the Bank’s strategic plans in Nigeria. I also thank Mr. John Aboh who recently retired from the Board after successfully completing his tenure of office. Under his tenure as Chairman of the Board, the Bank made remarkable progress in growing its market share and repositioning Ecobank Nigeria for leadership in the Nigerian financial services sector”.

Olujobi is a well-rounded and experienced professional with nearly four decades experience in Public Accounting, Banking, Training Facilitation, Business Consulting and Coaching. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a Certified Professional Coach of the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

The current Non-Executive Director of IBFC Alliance Limited, started her professional career at Z. O. Ososanya & Co and Coopers and Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouse Coopers) where she led audit assignments and consulted on tax issues.

She was at Nigeria International Bank Limited (now Citibank Nigeria Limited) as a Management Associate and rose through the ranks across multiple positions to become Vice President (Deputy General Manager); She was Managing Director, IBFC Agusto Training Limited; Executive Director of IBFC Alliance Limited after the merger of IBFC Agusto and Alliance Consulting. She holds a B.Sc. Degree in Economics from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University).

Wright is a transformative and human-centered professional with 33 years banking experience in top financial institutions, over 20 years of which was at senior leadership levels. She is currently an Executive Director with Wright & Co Limited, a management consulting firm based in Lagos; Chairperson of the Board of Arami Essentials; member of the Institute of Directors, where she sits on the board of IoD Centre for Corporate Governance; and Fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Management.

She started her career with NAL Bank Plc (now part of Sterling Bank), from where she moved to Kakawa Discount House which was later acquired by First Bank Holdings to become FBNQuest Merchant Bank; she was Executive Council member of Women in Management, Business and Public Services (WIMBIZ). Bimbola holds a B.Sc in Human Biology from Surrey University, an M.A. in International Relations from University of Kent at Canterbury.